Regardless of individuals or enterprises, people rely much on the information equipment and storage device to process or store bulk data nowadays. As a result, information security becomes a pressing issue recently.
In order to prevent data from being leaked out, the present computers, including desktops or notebook computers, have various protection functions. They employ passwords, fingerprint information, retina information or integrated circuit (IC) card to keep unauthorized users from accessing the data. Advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed as follows.
It is the most popular that the identification mechanism employs a password to log into a system as shown in FIG. 1. The user only needs to use a personal account 11 and password 13 to log into the system, such as a computer 10, a website or the like. However, since the account 11 and password 13 are fixed, it will cause a security problem if the password is forgotten, intercepted or modified.
Furthermore, the account and the password are issued mostly by a specific authorized organization. However, the internal staffs of the organization can steal the account and the password easily. Besides, if the user forgets to log out after use, the interval before automatic logout is sufficient for an unauthorized person to steal or damage user's data.
The biological identification mechanism as shown in FIG. 2 employs a fingerprint reader 20 of a login computer 10 to read user's unique biological information, i.e. fingerprint information, for identification. Although the biological information is unique for every person, the recognition capability and accuracy still need improving before this technology is widely used. Even though this technology is used, the interval before automatic logout is still sufficient for an unauthorized person to steal or damage user's data if the user forgets to log out after use.
FIG. 3 shows a chip card 32 for identification. Using the chip card 32 to log in the computer 10, access a management system or the like is the optimal identification mechanism. The chip card 32 can be a Radio Frequency Identification card (RFID card), a contact IC card, a traditional magnetic card or a bar-code card storing identification information. During identification, an identification reader 30 reads the identification information recorded on the chip card 32 to identify user's identity. A password or other re-confirmation mechanisms can also be used to improve the protection capability. However, if the chip card 32 is lost or not taken back after use, the chip card 32 may be duplicated or replaced by other persons. Hence, an unauthorized person still has chances to steal the confidential data.
The RFID method mentioned above transmits data through radio frequency. The identification mechanism using identity (ID) cards made according to this technology is the major identification method nowadays. The ID card can be compact and have various shapes. Thus, it can be portable and easily hidden. The identification mechanism using RFID technology can take the place of the fingerprint readers and chip card readers.
An embodiment of the present invention employs identification and auto-logout mechanisms together with the RFID mechanism to provide a wireless identification method and an automatic identification system. Thereby, the present invention can prevent the confidential data from leakage caused by the incomplete identification mechanism of the prior art or user's carelessness.